Iberian Peninsula

For many people, a mention of the Golden Age of Spanish Jewry tends to evoke images of learned rabbis like Maimonides or Judah Halevi, who lived in the intellectual centers of Cordoba, Tudela and Toledo. But Samuel Aben Hayon lived in a frontier outpost near the southern Spanish city of Murcia. And he was the… More ▸

It was truly a historic find. About 15 years ago, archivists examining several yellowed volumes of notarial records in the city of Girona in northeastern Spain began suspecting that the covers were lined with precious historical documents. They carefully picked apart the volumes and found a multitude of Hebrew manuscripts embedded in the covers, including… More ▸

Five years ago, an investigative journalist browsing through Spanish government archives stumbled on a list of 104 Nazis who hid in Spain after World War II and were being sought by the Allies. But the Nazis were never handed over. Irujo was shocked to discover how they escaped punishment not only with the connivance of… More ▸

As the countdown continues to an anticipated war against Iraq, Spain has agreed to provide Israel with extra supplies of a poison gas antidote. Israel is heightening its civil defense preparations against a possible Iraqi chemical attack in case of a U.S.-led strike on Baghdad. The antidote, known as atropine, is contained in the gas… More ▸

The silhouettes of men in hooded white robes praying in the synagogue looked like ghosts from the past. They removed a Torah from the ark and carried it around the sanctuary decorated with Islamic-style arches. A rabbi ascended to the covered pulpit in the center chanting Hebrew hymns. The phantom figures may not have been… More ▸

A new book published in Spain seeks to put to rest the notion that a "Jewish lobby" is influencing government and business in a country that has one of the smallest Jewish communities in Europe. But the book plays into some of the very stereotypes it seeks to deflate. In "The Jewish Lobby: Power and… More ▸

Growing anti-Semitism and poor economic prospects are threatening to extinguish two Jewish communities on the North African coast. After the expulsion from Spain in 1492, a small number of Jews escaped across the Strait of Gibraltar to two fortress cities that Spanish kings were establishing as beachheads in North Africa. Despite the Inquisition on the… More ▸

It’s an exciting time for the few Jews of Portugal. The country’s Jewish community recently celebrated the centenary of the Lisbon Synagogue — officially called Shaare Tikva, or Gates of Hope. On its 100th anniversary, the synagogue is being fully restored, and a Jewish museum is being built. At the same time, preparations are under… More ▸

Since Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar walked away from a bomb that exploded next to his armored car seven years ago, he has dreamed of crushing the Basque terrorist group ETA. His campaign scored a significant victory this week when Spain’s Congress of Deputies passed a law that would make it possible to outlaw… More ▸

Jewish groups are outraged that Spanish bishops have asked Pope John Paul II to canonize Queen Isabella I, who expelled Jews in 1492 and instituted the Inquisition. The controversial canonization has essentially been on hold since it was first proposed in the 1950s by a Spanish archbishop. At a meeting last week, however, the country’s… More ▸